1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to label holders, particularly an electronic shelf label (ESL) holder capable of mounting to both scanner plates and wire merchandise supports, such as wire racks or baskets, used in connection with retail merchandising. The ESL holder is mountable to the scanner plate in different orientations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic shelf labels are increasingly utilized in retail establishments in place of, or in addition to, paper and plastic information-carrying labels. These ESLs are generally integrated with an in-store processor or a free-standing controller that communicates with file information supporting the store's point of sale system. The ESL system may include low voltage communication electronics or communication base stations located in store ceilings away from the store operations. The ESLs are positioned throughout the store to identify an item's retail price and other information of interest to the consumer and/or for use by the store's inventory system. Price changes can be initiated through the controller to update item price files.
Electronic shelf labels, attachable to ESL holders which, in turn, are attachable to the front edge of store shelving are known. As described in commonly-assigned, pending application Ser. No. 10/448,049 filed on May 30, 2003, published on Dec. 30, 2004 under Publication No. 20040262470, an ESL such as those produced by NCR under its DecisioNet™ trademark are shown mounted to shelving, including C-channels. Among the embodiments disclosed includes an ESL holder member that engages with an attachment member which in turn is connected to the shelving or C-channel thereof. The attachment member includes a multiplicity of T-shaped protrusions and the holder includes a plurality of fingers that define gaps that are either snapped over or slid about the T-shaped protrusions. Thus, the holder can be positioned at different angular orientations with respect to the attachment member.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,990 issued Sep. 19, 2000, an electronic shelf label holder is described to include an adaptor where the holder is connected with the adaptor in different locations through a separate fastener element.
Fixed angle ESL holders are described in commonly-assigned, pending application Ser. No. 60/616,845 filed on Oct. 8, 2004, and non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/245,441 filed Oct. 7, 2005, incorporated by reference herein. There, the ESL is retained to the holder by a flexible PVC bead on the holder wall which engages the back of the ESL and a downwardly-oriented flexible lip that engages the ESL.
The ESL holders described above are attachable to shelf components such as the C-channels or directly to the front edge of the shelving. However, a need has arisen for using ESLs outside the context of direct connection to shelving components. In commonly-assigned co-pending application Ser. No. 10/959,436 filed Oct. 7, 2004, published Apr. 14, 2005 under Publication No. US 2005/0076554 A1, a label holder, including an ESL holder, is provided for mounting on a supporting surface formed of wire, such as a wire basket, a wire rack, a wire shelf, or the like.
Each of the ESL holders described above is intended for use with a single type of mounting surface, either a channel or a wire basket, but not both. A need has arisen for ESL holders that can be mounted to various merchandise display configurations.
One common merchandise display is a scanner plate arrangement that is commonly found in supermarkets, pharmacies and the like, and is often carried by an apertured board or other supporting surface. Generally, these scanner plate or hook assemblies comprise a pair of interconnected, vertically-spaced, horizontally extending hooks or elements cantilevered forwarded from a proximal mounting portion. The distal end of the upper hook may have a right-angled cross bar to which a flat scanner plate is welded thereto. The flat scanner plate is adapted to carry a label, typically of paper, or a label holder. The lower hook may be a single forwardly-extending element for slidably receiving a plurality of products, such as plastic encased products with an aperture or slot. With the advent of electronic shelf labels, a need has arisen for the scanner plate assemblies to support such an electronic shelf label.